www.scotcat.com

Your internet guide to
all things catfish

Image contributors
to this species:

ScotCat
Sources:

Other Sources:

Relevant Information:

There has been some confusion on the
identity of this diminutive mothcat over the years. At one
time it was thought that it was a small Erethistini that was first
described by Professor Kottelat in 1983 as Erethistes maesotensis.
However, E. maesotensis proved to be a Hara type
not an Erethistes type, due to it having the serrae on the anterior
edge of the pectoral spine antrosely directed and not divergent.
It has since been diagnosed that E. maesotensis is Erethistes
(Hara) filamentosa (Ng & Kottelat, 2007).
Yet the Erethistini pictured were the type that was being
seen in our local fish stores under a variety of trade names
such as burmese mini mouth cats and burmese rock cats. It was
assumed that these were Erethistes maesotensis and therefore
the synonym of Hara maesotensis and again as later Hara
filamentosa. However these small Erethistini have proved
to be Hara minuscula (Ng & Kottelat, 2007)
and the differences between these two when Hara filamentosa
and Hara minuscula are juveniles of comparable size,
is subtle and misidentification therefore can be forgiven. In
profile Hara minuscula has a curvature to its head
whereas in Hara filamentosa the profile is more angular.
Aquarium Care: A tank with a sandy bottom and
rounded stones and pebbles with a good water flow as befits an
asian hillstream setup. Good water quality is a must for this
family. Keep the water temperature on the cool side of a tropical
aquarium. Tank mates such as the zebra danio (Brachydanio
rerio) and asian fish such as Rasboras of the same small
size will make good tankmates. Diet: Prefers
live foods such as bloodworm, grindle worm, daphnia and Artemia
naupli. Remarks: Ferraris (2007) stated
that the Erethistidae be moved back into the Sisoridae family.